Fire-alarm-box mechanism.



C. F. KLEIN 6r E. A. PYLBS FIRE ALARM BOX MEGHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED 14111.27, 1911.

Pauented Dec, 31, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

@Homann G. F. KLEIN & E. A. PYLES.

FIRE ALARM BOX MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED 11.111,21', 1911,

1,049,308, Patented 1186.31, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

C. P. KLEIN & E. A. PYLES.

FIRE ALARM BOX MECHANISM.

APPLIOATIOH FILED 111111.27, 1911.

Patented Deo. 31, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

guna/nto,

wwwa/aow UNTTED STATES PATENT oFFjicE.

Cim'is'riANl F.' KLEIN AND EDWARD A- PYLES,l or BALTIMORE; MARYLAND, ASSIGN- oRs or ONE-HALF 'To SAID CHRISTIAN r. KLELN, ONE-.FOURTH To' SAID EDWARD A. PYLEs AND AoNl-l-rovlrri ATo JULIUs AE. PYLiss,v or BALTIMORE, MARYLAND; WILHELMINA KLEIN ADMINisTRA'rRiX oFsA'iD cHRis'riAN F. KLEIN, DEoRAsED.`

.Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec.3-1, 1912..

Application tiled Mai'cl1'27, 19111. Serial No. 617,173.

' T o au 'ui/Loin, it Amay concern.'

Be itknown that we, Cimis'riAx FL. KLEIN and'v 'EDWARD A. Pymes, 'citizens of the United States, residii'igat Baltimore, in the State ,5 of.-.Ma"ryland, fhave invented certain new and useful Iiiipro'vements iii Fire-Alarm- B'ox Mechanism; of which -the fol-lowing is ja specification. v j 1 This invention relates to an improved tire alarm box mechanism and-hasor its object to provide an improved device of the character described that will deter persons from calling out the'tii'edepart-nient 'by sending iii what is knowrijas a false alarm.

an improved construction of-box mechanism whereby when set in mot-ionwill tirstsoiind a loca-l or iieighhorhoodalarm for a'predeoperation can be conductedto send in the `alarm toy the depart-ment or the department headquarters. and by this means of detaining; a person befois the 4act-ual alarm sentin. and while the ylocal alarm is-sounding, deter persons from sendi-iig'in the ac- -.l;ual. alarm when there is no fire. I .Another object of the invention is to provide an improved fire alarmbox-inecha- .3,0 ni'smby means of vwhich a preliminary local alarm and a preliminary department alarm' may be sounded simultaneously to notifythe department; that t-liehoxl .mechanism has been actuated'A so that incase the actual alarm does 'not-.follow `it would not if the person at' the box should run '-off before the box in condition to send in the ac- 'tual alarm, and because-of the soundinvgof '-.thelocal'alarim the department can send to invention, and Fig; i, is an enlarged Yerti f andshows the iiiechanisin'on the outer 'door :sign'and having an outer door, 2, pivotzilly .connected therewith by means'of suitable One object. of the invention is `toivprovide tei-mined or a short period before the actualdepartment. A contact plate, 1l, Ais also ientlyfollowing the circuits.

and restore the-box to its normal condition.

ca l sectional view through the liox and doors in posit-ion ready for operation.

Referring to the dra\\iugs the numeral ,1, designates the outer casing of the boX,-wliich may be of any desired form, shape or dehinges, 3. As usual, the outer easing, 1,-

contains an inner casing, 4, having; a door, 5,

atthe vfront side thereof and forming an inner receptacle, C, which contains the usual Gamewe-ll alarm mechanism. which is so well known to those skilled-in the'artto which thisinrention relates that it is deemed unnecessary to illustrate the saine 'in de-` tail. The inner door, 5, is'providedfwith. the usual slot, 7, through which the s0- called-hook,- Q, of the alarm mechanism-'projjects for operation. The inner "alarm mechanism also employs the well-known contacts, 9, and, 1-0, of, thev said Gamewell device,-

7,5 the -latter Contact, l0T of which is3pivoted at one end so its other end v'may be drawn,

away from and gradually returned tio the other'contact, 9, as the alarm sent to the shown herein for the purpose of. convei'i-- AIt lis' to'b'e understood thatthe particular construction' of the devices thusv far 'def scribed are all separately common andwellknown int-heart, and are only newfin theirV relationA with such other means as we have- 'devised 'to effect a different actioh, and 'as pointed-out in lthe appended claims.- On the outer-casing,1, we providea suitable support-,712, for a'belt, 13,'by means of which latter a local alarm is tonbe sounded.. VVeare'aWare that we are not the tirstto provide broadly speaking, a local alarm device, but we do not know of a local alarm device that operates in the manner and with the other mechanisms of the box apparatus as We have coiiihi'ieil them.

ly reference to Figs. El and 4 it will be seen that the -iiiner casing of the box sustains a plurality of contact. plates ,lf-l, l5, 16, and l?, respectively, which latter extendA horizontally and project through'a notch', lt?, in the lower Vedge of the inner doorl 5," SO-asto project toward the inner side of j i'ifi A the outer door, 2 The contactv platesI 14 and, 16, are connected by wires, 19, and, 20, respectively which latter form a part of the circuit that connects the alarm apparatus in the box with the department as will presently be more fully explained after the mech anism on the door has been' described. The door, 2, has a vertical slot, 21, therein and is also provided on its'outer side with a box-like case, 22, that extends around the sai'd slot, and said case has a front wall, 23, of frangible material such as glass which completely closes the case. A latch, 24, is pivot-ally sustained in the case, 22, and has a segmental arm, 25, one end,26, of which extends horizontally and rests against the inner surface of the frangible wall, 23, while its other end, 27, projects through the ver-h tical slot, 21, in the door, 2, and turns upwardly soas to forni a ledge or support at the inner side of the door, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 4. -Directly over the upturned end, 27, of the latch, 24, there provided a vertical rod, 28, whose lower end is supported on the said up-turned end of the latch and is thereby held in an elevated position. In order to hold the rod, 28, in an upright position and at the same time enable it to' be moved vertically, we provide suitable guide devices, 29, which, in the present instance have the form of eyes so that tlie'rod may project therethrough. The rod, 28, is constructed of a material that is a conductor of electricityv or has a conductor extending` from its' upper to its lower end, for a purpose presentl to be explained.

An actuator lever, 30, when in its normal position, extends substantially in a horizontal direction across the inner side of the door and is pivoted to the latter at, 31. The free end, 32, of this lever projects over and .rests upon, 'or is otherwise connected with the rod, 28, so that it is sustained in an elevated position as shown in Fig. 2. In the present instancethe lever, 30, ispivoted at one end and its other 'or free end merely rests upon the upper end of rod, 28. A coiled spring, 33, has its upper end attached to the lever, 30, and its vlower end secured to the inner side of thc door so as to exert a constant downward pull on the free end, 32, of the lever, 30, and also on the rod, 28, which presses the scgn'ient arm, 25, outwardly against the frz'ii'igihle wall, 23, which prevents .said parts from downward movement. Below the vsegment latch, 25, the inner side of the. door, 2, carriesa block, 34, which is insulated from the door by suitable material, 35. This block, 34, carries' a. contact plate, 36, which has such a position bcneath the rod, 28, that contact may be made from thc plate, 36` to lever, 30, through rod, 28, as will presently more clearlym'vpcar.

A plurality of contact figure-s, 3i", 38, 39, and, 40, respectively are providcd along the inner side of the door, 2, and in .such posiengage plate, 16, and finger, 40, will be brought into contact with plate 17. In the present instance the plates, 14, and, 16, in the inner case or receptacle may becalled the terminals because the connections to and from the box are made therewith.

By referring to Figs. 2 and 3, of the drawings it will be seen that a wire, 41, extends from plate, 36, to contact finger, 39, and'itv will be understood that when the door, 2, lis

clpsed said finger, 39, electrically cont-acts with or engages plate or terminal,A 16. i It will also be noted that .a wire, 42, extends from finger, 38, on the door to the pivot-end of 'leve-r, 30,. thus electrically Y connecting those elements and that when the dooris closed finger, 38, will electrically 'engage contact plate, 15. By now referring to Fig.`

3 of theA drawing it will be seen that a wire, 43, leads from contact plate, 15, to bell, 13,

and that another wire, 44, returns from the.

bell and connects with terminal, 14. All of the connections just described may be'saidto relate to the local alarm circuit which is.

normally open or broken because the oonnection from lever, 30, on the door, 2, to' plate, 36, also on the door, which in the present instance is rod, 28, is broken,-the

ioo

rod beinof normally elevated from plate, 36',

and held so by the segment arm, 25"s shown in Fig.

ent instance, has 'an arched port-ion or bend, 45, between its pivoted and free ends and that when the door, 2, is closed this bend, 45,

extends over the upperside'of the operatin pin or hook, 8, by the depression of whici the alarm mechanism is set in action, there' fore when the free end, 32, of said lever is drawn down, as will presently be described, the pin or hook, 8, will be pulled down thereby and set the alarm mechanism in mo tionto give a preliminary notice to the department which will hereinafter be morefully set forth.. The depression of the pin or hook, 8, begins before the lower contact end of rod, 2.8, is brought into contact with plate, 36, on the door and as soon as the hook begins to move downwardly the mechanism in the case, 46, will cause the contacts, 9, and, 10, to separate as usual, and by this means break the normal contact between, said'contacts, 9, and, 10. before contact isl made between rod, 28, and plate, 36, on the door.

From the foregoing explanations it will A i05- It will be oted that lever, 30, in t-he presj that the very first operation w. tu l1, nl lifrcalnng the glass plate, nrrtully suppers site segment ingr ulwartlly and allow the 'ne doannard movement be- Yll .:ri spring, Eli-, ou ieier, 80. @eine to swing donn, the will be, depretsed and the lll, will be separated. lmn this the lower end of rod, on plate, 36. and thereby alarm circuit; which will terminal, il. wire, #lf-l, hell. ecntaet, 15. 'llhen from con on the door and by llt), rod, contact plate, .nden l, and finally to terwire. 20. bach; to the current he :wen that the break- ,r about the ringing and will have also eilected n of pin or hook, 8. to Send departnufmi, This latter sig- .t intent. however not in our u nre autrui signal but is what might t1' 'wwul the preliminary alarm, to notify tra, or the, department that the lohas been sounded. In to the detmrtment the late been depressed and :nd 10, therein7 first seppartntent signal 'ieing given l. and. 10, brought to* li this interval the sed and locked and lling and the stem or hated again to sound se it is not accessible, This con ront C. and l0, .l together at wliich time a arise that will effect an ne: of the door, 2, So bool" for a second a person who det'lre alarm.

will be seen that `apart Contact the fornita" of which, is ger, lit, by' i'neans of latter (lt/il is -mintwted haeltnlerlaniszn, lil4 in the lool; and elec i Hitt mit or ronslt'nrtion ot' upon the brealtiing ot nhieh lo 'the presmt inveuf stem is insulated from the levcr,30, b suitable material, 55, and the plate, 54, t ereon is so arranged that one end thereof will seat on Contact block, 47. While the other end will seat on Contact block, 48, thus bridging the space between the Contact block as clearly shown in Fig. 3. It' therefore the door, in Fig. 3, is presumed to be closed with contact finger, 40, engaging contact plate, 17, .in the box and contact linger, 37, engaging terminal plate, 114, as they would, the local'alarm would sound until contacts, 9, and, 10, brought together when a locl{-1eleasing circuit will be formed as follows: from terminal wire, 19, and terminal plate, 14, to finger, 37, on the door, then by wire, 52, to lock to close the circuit through the latter and release the bolt; from lock, 51, by Wire, 50, block, 48, plate, 54, to block, 47, then by wire, 49, to Contact linger. 40. then to plate. 17, and by Wire, 56, to post, 57. From post, 57, the lock circuit would proceed through wire, 58, contacts 9, and, 10, to Wire, 59, and post, 11, and finally by wire, 60,'to terminal, 16, and back through Wire, 20, to the source of current supply. Thus it will be seen that after the glass, 23, has been broken the contacts, 9, and, 10, will be separated while the local alarm bell, 13, is sounded for a short period during which time the door remains unlocked; then the contacts, 9, and, 10, are again brought together in the usual Way and a 'lock-releasing circuit is .thus formed which will retract the bolt and un lock the door, so that access may be gained to the pin or hook. 8, to permit the alarm to be sent in to the department.

The means employed to send in the alarm are the same or equivalent to those now commonly employed and a detailed description thereof is deemed unnecessary. It is deemed advisable to add however, that when the door, Q, is opened the circuits in the box proper are in condition to perform their usual functions as will appear by reference to Fig. 3, in which the circuit will be formed from Wire, 19, to terminal. 14, through post, 51, plate, 62, and Wire, 63, to post, 64, into the alarm mechanism then return by post. G5, and Wire, G6, to plate, 67, and post, 68, to terminal, 16, and then bark by Wire, 20, to the department and current supply.

lt will he understood that in the operation of the` intention the local alarm und preferably a preliminary alarm at heath quarters will he given but the door will re main closed for a short period during which delay attention of all in the vicinity of the box will be directed to the fact that some one. has started its operation, :intl more than likely if a false alarm was attempted the party `will run oil' without waiting l'or the door, 2, to he unlocked, consequently the actual alarm will not 'ne sounded. In this event the department apparatus will not respond but some one may be sent to the box to reset it by replacing the broken glass and closing the door. The lock, 51, may be actuated through the key-hole, 69, by an authorized person for purposes of inspection without sounding either of the preliminary alarms. i

Having thus described our invention what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is,Mm l

l. ln a lire alarm mechanism the combination 'with a box having a door, of a department alarm mechanism in the box in cluding a stationary Contact, a movable contact and an actuating hook; a local alarm device; actuating means accessible from the exterior of the box; electric means coacting between the exterior actuating means and the local alarm device to operate the latter; a lock orholding the door closed after the local alarm has been sounded and electric means for releasing the lock on the door to allow the door` to be opei'ied to expose the actuator of the department alarm.

ln a lire alarm mechanism the combina tion with a box having a department alarm therein including a s Ylionary contact, a movable Contact and an actuating member,

of a door for preventing access to said meclr anisni; a local alarm device; devices on the door for actuatingr the local alarm device: means for holding the door locked after the local alarm has begun operating and electrical means for releasing the door.

3. ln a lire alarm mechanism the combination with a box having a department alarm mechanism therein including enacting con l tarts one of' which is movable with respect to l 40 the other and also including an actuatingl member, ot a door for preventing access to i said mechanism; a. local alarm device; conA i tacts in the box; connections between said contacts and the local alarm device; contacts ou the door to engage the conta-cts in the l box; an electricallybpeiated loch for securing the door; and means for first establish ing a circuit through the local alarm to first i operate 4the latter and. then to establish al circuit through the lock to actuate the latter and rcl ease the door.

4. ln a lire alarm mechanism the combina- 1 tion with a box having, a department alarin l mechanism therein including two counting cont-.ictsoncot' which isiuorablen'ith respect to the other and also including an actuating member. of a pluralityY ot contacts intliebox;

a local alarm device; ronnections between the l local alarm and the ronlarls in the box; a l

door for preventing access to the iglepurt ment alarm mechanism in the box; means on l the door for forming amclcctrical connection between the box minlacts to operate the local alarm; an electrwally-operated loch l and means in the box for releasing the lock after the local alarm has been operated.

5.' ln a lire alarm mechanism the combination with a box having a department alarm mechanism therein including two c0- acting contacts one of which is movable With respect to the other and also including an actuating member; a local alarm device; 8. door; means on the inner side of the door for effecting an operation of the local alarm; means on the outer side of the door for actuating the said means on the inner side thereof; a lock to hold the door closed and means for interrupting the local alarm and simultaneously actuating the lock to release the door.

tl. In a lire alarm mechanism ,the combination With a box having a department alarm mechanism therein including two coai-ting coi'itacts one of which is movable with respect to the other and also including an actuating member, of a local alarm; a door for the box to prevent access to the department alarm mec ianism therein; a casing on the exterior of the door and havin a fra i gible wall; means on the inner site of the door for e Iablishing electrical connections through thelocal alarm and means in the casing on the exterior of the door for controlling the means on the inner side thereof to sound the ilocal alarm While the door remains closed.

'i'. ln a lire alarm mechanism the combination with a box having a, department alarm mechanism therein including a stationary und a movable contact and an actuating niember.y of a local alarm levicc; a door; means for locking the door; means on the inner side I oli the door for engaging the actuatingmeinlier of the department alarm uiechanisni; a casing on the outer side of the door and having' a traugible wall; inea-ns in the casing on the outer side ot' the doo and engaging the means ou ihe inncr side of said door and held in an iniu'icratiie position by the said frangihle wall; means for establishing a circuit through thel local alarm and similituneously moving the actuating member of the department alarm while the door remains closed.

S. lin a lire alarm mechanism the c" ubinal tion with a box having a department alarm mechanism therein including' a pair of Separablc contacts and un actuating u'icnibcr,0fa local alarm; a door; a loch on the door; electrical connections including the door lock and the pair ot separable contacts of the department alarm mechanism; means on 3 the door for operating the actuating member 5 ol the department alarm and thereby separating the said pair of contacts and means also on the door for ellecting an operation 1 ot the local alarm while the said contacts are separated.

9. In a fire alarm mechanism the combination with a box having a department alarm mechanism therein including an actuating member and two separable contacts, of a series of contacts in the box; a local alarm device; connections between the box contacts and the local alarm; a door for the box; connections on the door with the local alarm contacts in the box; means on the exterior of the door for closing the circult through the local alarm contacts while the door is closed; a lock for the door and means for releasing the lock after the local alarm hasI been sounded to permit the door to be opened and access gained to the actuating member of the department alarm mechanism.

10. In a re alarm mechanism the combination with a box having a department alarm mechanism therein including two separable contacts and an actuating member, of a local alarm; a door` for preventing ac cess to the actuating member of the department alarm mechanism, said door having an opening to the exterior; a lock for the door; a movable device extending through the door opening; contacts on the door and held in a separated condition by the device that extends through said doorlopening; con-- nections between the contacts on the door and the local alarm device, and means for electrically releasing the lock to permit the door to be opened.

In testimony whereof we aix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

CHRISTIAN F. KLEIN. EDWARD A. PYLES. Witnesses:

CHARLES B. MANN, Jr., G. Fw. Voor. 

